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Scientists Rename Genes Because Microsoft Excel Reads Them as Dates

posted by chromas on Friday August 07 2020, @04:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the ' dept.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for guy_:

Scientists rename genes because Microsoft Excel reads them as dates:

Microsoft Excel’s automatic formatting is normally helpful for finishing spreadsheets quickly, but it’s proving to be an agent of chaos for geneticists. The Verge has learned that the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee has issued guidelines for naming human genes to prevent Excel’s automatic date formatting from altering data. MARCH1 (Membrane Associated Ring-CH-Type Finger 1), for example, should now be labeled MARCHF1 to stop Excel from changing it to 1-Mar.

The names of 27 genes have been changed in the past year to avoid Excel-related errors, HGNC coordinator Elspeth Bruford said. This isn’t a rare error, either, as Excel had affected about a fifth of genetics-related papers examined in a 2016 study.

Journal Reference:
Mark Ziemann, Yotam Eren, Assam El-Osta. Gene name errors are widespread in the scientific literature [open], Genome Biology (DOI: 10.1186/s13059-016-1044-7)

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by krishnoid on Friday August 07 2020, @06:41AM (2 children)

    by krishnoid (1156) on Friday August 07 2020, @06:41AM (#1032783)

    That's the problem with a powerful, flexible, reliable tool -- once the hackers get their hands on it, it will be used for purposes you never anticipated.

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Friday August 07 2020, @03:26PM (1 child)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 07 2020, @03:26PM (#1032938) Journal

    Hackers getting their hands on a spreadsheet is not a problem.

    The problem is MBAs getting their hands on a spreadsheet.
    * OMG! Excel is the best database evar!
    * OMG! I can write VBA macros!
    * I'm now the greatest programmer evar!
    * I can write separate "query" functions to search the rows of each table for the row I want!
    * It's fast and efficient! Even on HUGE databases that have HUNDREDS of rows!!!
    * I don't see what's the big deal about "complexities" that my programmers complain about. It's all so easy!

    --
    The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by krishnoid on Friday August 07 2020, @05:46PM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Friday August 07 2020, @05:46PM (#1033028)

      * Ok, maybe this is starting to get a more complex
      * Now that I've shown results and head to greener pastures, I'm can dump this pile of technical debt off onto some nerd
      * So long, everyone
      * Wow, this MBA stuff is easy!